Not like CERN
"So yes, rather then spending billions on seeing what happens when you collide sub-atomic particles a near light-speeds to produce more sub-atomic particles - (We've been doing the particle accelerator thing for years now, and while its very interesting it is clear that nothing of any great practical use will come from it in the near future) would we not be better off researching serious alternative cheap energy production methods with some out-of-the-box thinking?"
This is important - the Diamond particle accelerator is NOT about smashing particles together and making new particles, it's a facilty where scientists from a whole host of different disciplines come to carry out research. Synchrotrons like Diamond have been used to create new drugs, to study GMR (the technology underpinning iPods), and to study how pollutants move through the environment - real, tangible applications. It's not even the spin-offs that might result from technological developments, these machines already the result of that.
Diamond and the SRS up in Daresbury are not one-trick ponies for a small community of particle physicists, they are multi-purpose facilites, used by chemists, biologists, engineers - and people looking for alternative energy production methods as well as ways to minimise humanities environmental impact.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
